http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/9703178/detail.html

Judge Finds Smuggler Who Crashed Into CHP Guilty
Man Faces 40-Year Sentence

POSTED: 3:11 pm PDT August 18, 2006
UPDATED: 3:21 pm PDT August 18, 2006


SAN DIEGO -- A Mexican national who drove the wrong way on a busy interstate trying to flee law enforcement has been convicted of 10 felony counts of immigrant smuggling and marijuana smuggling and distribution.

Jovanni Mendoza, 25, from Tijuana, Mexico, was transporting five illegal immigrants and 692 pounds of marijuana packed in 11 suitcases when his SUV was stopped by California Highway Patrol officers in August 2005, according to court documents.

Mendoza attempted to get away, driving west in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 8, but crashed into a CHP vehicle and fled on foot. Five of the people in the van were taken into custody.

He was arrested by Border Patrol agents a week later after being stopped at a checkpoint on the same highway, according to court documents.

U.S. District Court Judge Dana M. Sabraw found Mendoza guilty in a non-jury bench trial. He is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 3 and faces a maximum of 40 years in prison and $2 million in fines.